The Sun and the Stars
by TwoHeartedAlien
Summary: This fic is the story of Diana meeting the Chosen of the Sun before becoming the Chosen of the Moon and all the complications that come with it.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

The first time Diana ever laid eyes on the woman she came to know as Leona, she was just a teenager. Diana was only just fifteen years old when she was talked into attending the parade that was being held on the main roads that lead through Mt Targon and up to the Solari temple, a teenage Rakkorian girl had just been named Chosen of the Sun and they were celebrating her being Chosen. Diana had never really cared for Solari tradition or the culture itself but was forced into pretending for those around her in case she was seen as being a heretic.

Diana forced her way through the crowds of people to the front, just in time to catch a glimpse of the Chosen. If she was going to be forced to attend this event, she was going to at least have a look. When she found the Chosen, Diana was surprised to find a girl not much older than herself clad in the ritual armour of the Chosen, she had auburn hair and her skin seemed to glow as if Diana was looking at the sun itself. She found that she couldn't take her eyes off the girl as she passed by, fascinated by her, this was the most interested Diana had ever been in anything related to the Solari. She felt an overwhelming urge to want to speak to her, to get to know this girl even if she knew the Elders wouldn't let Diana anywhere near her if they could help it, she was known for being a troublemaker who refused to follow tradition or keep up her duties.

Diana dismissed the idea of ever getting the chance to know the Chosen of the Sun, believing that it would be impossible, and moved on from that day. She occasionally saw the Chosen, who she came to learn was named Leona, around Mt Targon, sometimes she would pass Leona on the street and other times it would be seeing her training outside the Solari temple. Every time she saw Leona she felt the slightest pang of, what she thought was, jealousy. Leona was so beautiful and so perfect, able to please the Elders and be happy with herself, how could she not be jealous of such a girl? It wasn't until years later when Diana was nineteen and hiding away inside one of Mt Targon's libraries that she finally spoke to Leona. Well, when Leona finally spoke to her more like.

"Would you be able to help me with something?" A voice asked from the other side of the table that Diana sat at, she looked up, meeting eyes with Leona who smiled gently at her. Leona was talking to her? She had only ever seen Leona from a distance, she hadn't ever expected the Chosen to want to speak to her, even if it was just to help her for a moment. After a few moments of silence, where Diana mentally fumbled with how to respond, Leona spoke again. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yes. What do you need me to help you with?" Diana forced herself to say, trying her best not to appear even more stupid in front of the Chosen than she already had managed.

"I'm looking for a certain book and I've been told that you know this library better than anyone else. Do you think you'd be able to help me find it?" Diana blinked at her for a moment before nodding.

"What book is it?" Diana asked her as she rose from her chair, preparing to go find the book for her.

"It's a poetry book, I'll know it when I see it." Leona smiled at her again and it made Diana's heart skip for a small second, she forced herself to turn towards where the book was most likely located, wanting to hide her embarrassment from the Chosen.

"It should be in this section here." Diana pointed at a shelf in the book case she stood in front of before stepping aside to let Leona have a look for it. After a few moments Leona pulled a book from the shelf and smiled at Diana.

"This is it. I've been trying to find this book since I got here years ago but I had no luck, I didn't feel like travelling all the way back to my village for a single book though. Thank you for helping me find it." The smile Leona was giving Diana made her feel like the most important person in the world in that moment, she didn't know how Leona did that, making her feel significant even if she wasn't. "Your name is Diana, right?" She asked her, causing Diana to swallow hard.

"Yes." She tried to force a smile back, not wanting her nervousness to show through. She couldn't put her finger on why Leona made her so uncomfortable, was it because she was the Chosen? Or was it because Diana was jealous because of how perfect she seemed to be? She couldn't work it out.

"My name's Leona." The Chosen said to her before sticking her hand out, introducing herself to Diana as if Diana didn't already know who she was speaking to, though Diana gladly accepted the handshake, not turning up the chance to make physical contact with the Chosen even if it were just this once. "Thank you for helping me, I'll remember it." She said to Diana before turning to the front doors of the library, leaving Diana standing in the literature section by herself, her hands still clammy and gross. She wondered if Leona had felt how sweaty her hands were as she turned red with embarrassment. She had no clue why one person could make her feel so uncomfortable and awkward, it surely couldn't just be because she's the Chosen, Diana hadn't cared about being reverent to Solari tradition and important figures before. Diana decided to take solace in the fact that Leona most likely would never speak to her again, maybe she wouldn't even remember her name, pushing the worry about her feelings to the back of her mind as she returned to her research.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Diana found herself in front of a small group of Elders yet again for the third time that month. This time she had gotten herself in trouble for oversleeping that morning and missing her duties. She had been up all night with her books on the rooftop that she had claimed as her own private sanctuary to hide away in from the other Solari and had managed to fall asleep on the roof instead of in her own bed, missing wake up call. They were angry with her, again, though her continued infractions were a nuisance and showed lack of discipline and lack of commitment to Solari tradition, it wasn't enough to do much more than hand out a light punishment each time. Usually they would make her take on extra duties for a week or make her spend a day tending to one of the gardens in the temple grounds, this time they chose the latter, she would be spending the rest of today tending to the garden.

She spent her time in the garden cursing out how much she hated the sun, it was bright and its heat overbearing on day like this. She figured that was most likely the point of her punishment, they knew how much she hated it. Eventually her tending to the garden was interrupted, she expected to look up and find one of the Elders having come to criticise her skills as a gardener and had a retort waiting on her tongue only for her to find Leona standing in front of her, wearing her golden plated ceremonial armour. It had been a few days since Leona had asked Diana for help in the library, Diana had expected to see Leona again so soon, let alone at all.

"I'm afraid I'm going to need to ask you for a favour again." Leona said with a smile, the idea of her helping Leona again made her heart skip a beat. She turned her head down to where she was tending the garden to hide the warmth she felt spread across her own face.

"What do you need?" Diana made her best attempt to sound formal, distant, the last thing she wanted was the Chosen to think that she had a fascination with her.

"I need someone new to spar with and I think you can help me." Diana lifted her eyes from the ground to look up at Leona in confusion, she had no clue as to why Leona would want her out of anyone on Mt Targon to spar with her. Diana was as close to a bad choice as picking a child would be.

"I've never received combat training." Diana tried to brush Leona off, not wanting to suffer the embarrassment of losing horrifically in a sparring match with the Chosen.

"That doesn't matter, there's always a time to learn." Leona offered, trying to convince Diana to come with her though she couldn't figure out why. Sparring with Diana would be far from a challenge for Leona, someone who had magical abilities given to her by the sun and had been receiving combat training since she was able to wield a weapon. Diana had spent most of her life behind books and in classrooms, she had chosen to go without combat training when it was offered to her because to her it seemed useless though the way Leona was looking at her made her want to give it a try anyway.

"I don't think it would be a good idea. I don't think the Elders would want you anywhere near me." Diana said before going back to her gardening.

"And why's that?" Leona asked, it caused Diana to wonder if Leona really didn't know her reputation or was playing dumb with her. Everyone knew how much trouble Diana caused the Elders, there was no way that Leona didn't know what people thought of her.

"I would be a bad influence, I think, is what the Elders would say if they knew you wanted to spend any time with me." Diana was trying to offer the Chosen a way out from her decision to try spend time with her, even though on the inside she really wanted to accept the offer.

"Good thing I don't have to listen to them then." Leona offered her hand out to Diana, "Come on." She said, encouraging Diana to take her hand. Diana finally gave in, Leona wasn't planning on listening to her protests it seemed, and took the Chosen's hand and let herself be led to the sparring grounds behind the temple. Leona gave Diana a practice weapon before stripping off some of the larger pieces of her armour. Diana averted her eyes once she found herself starring at Leona, having never seen the Chosen before outside of the armour she was given years ago, or at least that was what she was choosing to believe the reason for her staring was.

Diana knew well before Leona even came at her in their sparring match that it would be a quick, decisive defeat. The Chosen had her on her back within about thirty seconds, she wheezed after the wind had been knocked out of her, Leona was somehow even stronger than Diana had expected. Leona stood over her and took hold of her wrist, pulling her up to her feet. Leona spent the rest of the time before dark teaching Diana some of the pure basics of combat, justifying it to Diana as it being a necessity for her to know how to fight. Diana was still puzzled by the Chosen's behavior but was far from thinking about stopping her from trying to talk to her.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Over the past few weeks, Leona had found Diana in the library doing her own research and chose to sit with her, eventually asking Diana to help her with her own studies. Leona explained that she had heard that Diana was good with research and studying and that she needed some assistance with her studies, feigning that the work given to her by the Elders was too difficult for her. Diana picked up on Leona knowing everything she was showing her quickly, the Chosen wasn't too great at feigning ignorance, Leona continued to puzzle Diana but Diana chose not to let Leona know she knew.

A few weeks eventually went by where Diana didn't see Leona at all, she wasn't surprised that Leona had stopped seeing her, figuring that the Chosen's momentary curiosity had worn off and she had gone back to doing more important things. She finally ran into Leona one day outside the Solari temple, she was speaking with a tall, well-built Rakkorian man wearing a helmet. Diana watched the interaction from a distance, watching as the man took a step forward and Leona took a matching step backwards to create space between them. She could see the look on Leona's face was a poor attempt at pretending to be interested in the conversation. At first Diana had felt the smallest pang of jealousy, at what she wasn't sure, but the feeling settled when she saw the way Leona made attempts to distance herself from the man.

"I would love to say yes, but I have already got someone else that I'm taking to the festival. Thank you for the offer Pantheon, maybe next time." Leona said with a soft smile before looking past the man she had referred to as Pantheon, spotting Diana looking at them. Leona gave Pantheon a short nod before heading over to where Diana was standing, part of Diana wanted to flee at the sight of Leona coming towards her but she felt herself stuck in place, waiting for Leona to reach her.

Once Leona reached where Diana stood, she looked over her shoulder briefly to make sure that Pantheon was no longer anywhere near them before turning her head back to Diana, the slightest of smirks on her face. It was a smirk that made Diana avert her eyes, she had never seen anything more than a gentle smile on the Chosen's face, it was only when Leona began speaking that Diana managed to force herself to make eye contact with the woman in front of her.

"Do you know about the Rakkorian light festival that's happening this weekend?" Diana furrowed her brows at the idea of Leona asking her this, wondering where this was going. She still couldn't read Leona's intentions, was this event just what she rejected Pantheon for?

"I've heard of it, I don't know much about it." Leona smiled at the sound of that, obviously eager about something.

"Good, I want to take you to it, the less you know about it the better, so don't go off and research it, okay?" Diana scanned her eyes over the Chosen's face as she considered the invitation.

"Sure." The way Leona beamed after she accepted made her confusion worth it, settling with making the woman happy even if she didn't really know what was going on. Diana wasn't sure why she agreed, being anywhere near Leona made her so nervous she wanted to be sick sometimes and she didn't care for sun or sun worship in the slightest, but she was going to try get herself to let go and go with what Leona had planned.

"I'll meet you at the front of the Solari temple on Saturday morning then." Diana nodded in agreement before she watched Leona return back inside the temple they were standing in front of.

Saturday came quicker than Diana expected, she had spent most of the week burying herself in her work, trying to keep her nerves at spending extended time with Leona at bay. The night prior to Saturday, Diana hadn't slept at all. She spent most of the night lying in bed with her own anxiety until she forced herself out of bed and got herself ready for the day. Diana tried her best to prevent herself from lingering on the way she looked, trying to convince herself that it didn't matter as Leona didn't care how she looked, that she needed to put her jealousy of Leona's beauty aside for one moment and just go with what was happening.

Diana met with Leona outside the Solari temple as they had agreed and Diana found it hard to separate her eyes from the woman in front of her, seeing her outside of her ceremonial armour and in casual clothing for the first time. It was a rare sight that she decided to commit to memory. Leona took the opportunity while they were walking to the festival to ask Diana some probing questions about her research. Diana tried to remain as vague as possible while speaking to Leona about the subject, not wanting to expose her research into things other than Solari tradition, not wanting to admit to Leona that she may not believe in the same things as the Chosen and all the others who lived on Mt Targon who celebrated and worshipped the sun.

When Leona figured out that that line of questioning wasn't going to earn anything more than vague answers from Diana she began to ask other questions, wanting to know Diana's birthday and favourite colours. Diana complied with this more basic line of questioning, still curious as to why Leona wanted to know so much about her. Leona's curiosity continued throughout the next few hours as they wandered around the festival, she only stopped asking Diana questions to explain a few things about the festival and some of the traditions and games involved, even getting Diana to play some game involving the tossing of rings.

When Diana found a stall selling books she began to lose herself in flipping through the pages until Leona grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from the stall and from the festival, bringing her into a secluded alleyway, a move that only added to Diana's confusion. She stared at the Chosen, puzzled, while she waited for Leona to explain why she had dragged Diana far away from the festival. Diana examined Leona's face as she looked away from Diana, gnawing on her own lip before eventually looking at Diana again.

Diana watched Leona silently as she reached out, her hand cupping Diana's cheek, causing the blonde to turn a light shade of pink at the contact. Only a few moments later did Leona close the gap between them, pressing her lips against Diana's. Initially Diana stiffed at the contact, not having expected that from the Chosen at all, it wasn't until Leona's mouth began to move against hers and caused something to stir within Diana that she could finally put her finger on what she had been feeling for Leona for all these weeks. She hadn't been jealous of Leona at all, she had been attracted to her. Once Diana made this realization she relaxed into Leona, letting the woman lead them through an awkward, stiff first kiss.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Immediately after Leona kissed her, the pair agreed to keep what happened to themselves. While it wasn't forbidden on Mt Targon for two women to see each other, it certainly wasn't welcomed either. Diana wanted to spare Leona the possible backlash from not just being attracted to a woman but being attracted to Diana, the Elders and almost everyone else who knew what Diana was like would be far from accepting.

After the festival, Leona had taken Diana back to her place. Normally people their age were still living with their parents but Diana was an exception, she left early in order to get her own space and hide her research from her parents. Before Leona left for the night she took the opportunity to kiss Diana again after making sure the area was clear first. This day had gone in a completely different direction from what she had expected, but all of Leona's behavior was beginning to make sense to Diana, the way she was asking Diana for help with things she clearly didn't need help with, asking her endless questions about herself, she still couldn't understand why the Chosen would want to have anything to do with her but at least her strange behavior now made sense to her.

Leona lingered for a few moments after kissing her goodbye before actually leaving, Diana could tell she didn't really want to leave but knew if she missed her training with the Elders tomorrow morning because she was out late with Diana, this would be over before it even began.

A few days went by where Diana didn't see Leona at all and she began to worry to herself that maybe someone had found out about what had happened and had managed to convince Leona to stay away from her, how had she become so attached to the Chosen so quickly? Her fears were resolved quickly enough when one evening as Diana hid in one of her rooftop sanctuaries, Leona made an appearance. She had managed to track down one of Diana's hideaways and made the effort to climb up the side of the building to get to it. Leona had chosen to leave her armour behind at the temple, Diana was liking the idea that she might get to see Leona out of her armour regularly. Diana's face reddened at the fact that she had had that thought, the want to see Leona without her armour and without her clothing. Leona took a seat beside her, her eyes examining the blush that was spreading over Diana's cheeks, causing the blonde to turn an even darker shade of red at the close examination.

"You're adorable, you know that?" Leona said with a slight smirk before running her fingertips lightly along Diana's dark cheeks. Diana cursed herself for being so easily turned to useless mush at the idea of Leona being anywhere near her, let alone touching her. Leona pulled her into a deep, searing kiss while snaking her free arm that wasn't holding onto Diana's face around her lower back, pulling her into Leona. Diana wrapped her arms around Leona's neck, giving into Leona's pulling, giving into the Chosen's want to have her as close as possible to her.

After a few minutes, Leona ran her tongue over Diana's lower lip, wordlessly asking for entrance and Diana giving into it. Leona's confidence made Diana wonder if she had done this before but those thoughts were interrupted by Leona's hand sliding underneath the hem of her shirt, surprise causing Diana to break away from the kiss.

"W-Wait." She stammered out, she was going to hate herself for stopping this from going further.

"What is it? Do you not want to?" Leona asked, an apologetic look on her face, clearly she feared that she had pushed her luck.

"It's not that I don't want to. It's that it wouldn't be a good idea to." Leona's expression turned to a puzzled one at the sound of those words coming from Diana's mouth.

"And why's that?"

"I should have said something at the festival but it's not a good idea for you to be with me. I'll only drag you down, I'll taint you as the Elders would probably say. I'm far from disciplined and have never been very good at the sunworship thing. You should probably find someone else." Diana said, averting her eyes, she really did want this to continue, she wanted to see Leona more and have Leona want her but she couldn't see how this would turn out well for Leona when she couldn't even commit to the idea of worshipping the sun which almost everyone else on Mt Targon was convinced by.

"What if I said that I didn't care about all that?" It was now Diana's turn to look puzzled, why wouldn't Leona care about her reputation and how Diana might affect it?

"Why wouldn't you?" Diana asked, watching Leona's face for some clue as to what she was thinking.

"Why would I?" Leona asked her, a smile creeping onto her face, reaching both of her hands forward to cup both of Diana's cheeks. "You are far too interesting and beautiful for me want to give up that easily. I want to get to know you." Diana turned a deep crimson at the idea of Leona considering her beautiful. "But we can wait until I can get you to believe that I'm not going to be so easily dissuaded from my interest in you." Diana stiffened slightly as Leona pressed her lips to her neck before giving into her touch.

"Something makes me feel like you've done this before." She murmured just loud enough for Leona to hear her. Leona chuckled against her skin, making her shiver slightly.

"No, you're my first." Diana pulled away from her with an eyebrow raised, not believing that someone could be so confident when they hadn't been with someone before.

"I don't believe you."

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Leona pulled away, a dangerous smirk on her face.

"N-No, I don't mean that." Diana tried to defend herself, flustered by the idea that she may have implied something other than what she meant. "I meant it as a compliment, you're just so confident all the time." Leona laughed at her before bringing her in for a brief kiss.

"You're lucky that I like you enough to believe you."

Leona sat with Diana on the rooftop for as long as she thought she could get away with without sleeping through tomorrow morning like Diana did on a regular basis. As much as Diana wanted her to stay she kept herself from trying to talk Leona into staying past a reasonable hour, not wanting to drag Leona down with her.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

As time went by since the night that Leona visited her in her rooftop hideaway, Diana came to regret not taking the opportunity right then and there to lose her virginity to Leona. Over the next several months since that night, the pair of them never had enough time to themselves for anything more to happen between them and it came to frustrate her. Leona only had enough time for brief moments of intimacy where she could sneak out at night to visit Diana in her hideaway or when Leona passed her in public and could pull her aside from view.

Diana could tell that Leona was feeling the same way whenever they met, no matter how brief, Leona would have to peel herself away from Diana, force herself to have restraint. Even if it was driving Diana crazy, it felt nice to feel wanted and Leona was good at that, she made even the briefest of moments together feel special.

One night Leona came to Diana at a much earlier hour than normal, finding her at her room instead of the rooftop like normal. Diana could tell that Leona took pleasure in the fact that she hadn't expected the Chosen at all. Diana stepped aside to let Leona into her room, the pair of them waiting until the door was closed and locked before speaking. Diana watched her curiously as Leona placed a bag by the foot of Diana's bed.

"You're here early." Diana remarked, watching as Leona sat on the edge of her bed and began to remove her armour. Leona only made a noise of agreement as her response, obviously taking some pleasure in leaving Diana in the dark as to what was happening. Once her armour had been stripped, she moved it to the side of the room, before moving to where Diana was standing.

"I managed to get the Elders to agree to give me three entire days off of training in order to come here." Leona said as she reached up and brushed some of Diana's hair out of her face.

"You told them?" Diana gawked at the idea that Leona had told them about Diana and had somehow gotten approval, Leona only laughed at her reaction.

"No, I told them I was going to be returning to my village, they don't know that I'm actually here. I hope that's okay, I wanted to surprise you." Diana's eyes moved between Leona's and the bag she had left at the foot of Diana's bed. She licked her lips with anticipation when she realised that she would have Leona to herself for three entire days.

"That's more than okay." Diana said earning a chuckle from Leona, knowing exactly what was on Diana's mind.

"I'm glad that you're no longer stuck on the idea of tainting me." Leona said with a smirk as she moved a hand to Diana's hip, pulling her in, the other hand in Diana's platinum blonde hair. Leona gave Diana a few brief but deep kisses before moving her lips to the blonde's neck, pulling Diana into her tightly. Leona stayed there for a few minutes, littering Diana's neck with kisses and small bites, dragging her teeth against the taut skin before the hand on her hip began to bury its way underneath Diana's shirt. Leona's hand stayed there for a moment, waiting for Diana to protest but when Diana did nothing to stop her she pulled away from Diana's neck in order to pull the shirt over her head.

Leona dropped the shirt on the floor beside them before walking Diana back towards the bed, the back of her knees hitting the edge of the mattress. Leona's hand snaked its way up Diana's back, finding the latch of her bra before removing it. Diana was guided to sit on the edge of the bed by Leona's hands, the Chosen's eyes locked on her chest with an open hunger that made Diana turn a dark red in response, embarrassed to be under such intense scrutiny even if she could tell that Leona liked what she was seeing.

Diana felt a twinge of nervousness build up inside her, they had been flirting on the edge of this for months but had never actually had the chance to go through with it. Diana began to worry about whether she had built this moment in her head to a standard that it wouldn't be able to live up to, she worried that she wouldn't be able to perform to a standard that would please Leona. The Chosen noticed Diana's sudden anxiety, quickly moving to soothe it by removing her own shirt and bra before climbing on top of her, Leona's mouth finding Diana's neck again.

"Don't worry," Leona began saying in between kisses, her breath hot on Diana's neck, "This is going to be amazing." She stopped kissing Diana's neck for a moment, smiling up at Diana reassuringly, "Trust me." Leona said this in a way that made Diana's heart melt before it was replaced with hunger for Leona as the Chosen moved down to her chest, kissing along her collarbone.

Diana's breath hitched in her throat when Leona's mouth found her left nipple, her hand finding the right. She let out a shaky moan that only spurred the Chosen on. Diana's breathing quickened as Leona tested what got the best reactions from her, discovering the rougher she was, the better she responded. Leona straddled Diana's right thigh in order to keep the blonde still, it didn't take long for Diana to begin grinding her hips up against the thigh between her legs, Leona had been purposefully working her up, not giving her an outlet for the heat between her legs.

Leona chuckled as Diana grinded herself against the Chosen before letting out a disappointed huff as Leona removed her leg from in between Diana's thighs. Diana watched silently as Leona pulled back from her, removing her shoes and making quick work of her pants and underwear, tossing them to the floor beside the bed like she had done with Diana's shirt. Diana kept her eyes locked on Leona's chest, being so glad that she had finally got to see Leona shirtless. She admired how defined the Chosen's muscles were, reaching forward to run a finger up Leona's abdomen.

Once Diana was done examining Leona's muscles she looked up to find the Chosen's eyes locked on her crotch, causing her to turn a deep crimson for the second time that night, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment. Leona took advantage of Diana not being able to see her, quickly settling between the blonde's legs and pressing her mouth against Diana earning a surprised moan from her. Leona took grip of Diana's hips, holding her in place as she ran her tongue against Diana's clit.

It didn't take long for Diana to be trembling underneath Leona's ministrations. Leona pulled away from her for a brief moment to look up at Diana with a victorious smirk.

"You'll have to be quiet; your neighbours will hear you." She said before pressing her mouth against Diana again, earning a now muffled moan from the blonde who attempted to cover her mouth to quieten herself. She hadn't realised that she had been so loud. A rush took over her senses, far more overwhelming than anything she had done to herself, she arched up against Leona, calling out the Chosen's name as quiet as she could manage in that moment.

Leona sat up, smirking at the breathless woman in front of her. Diana opened one eye (when had she closed them? She couldn't remember) and laughed at the smug expression on Leona's face. The Chosen was clearly pleased with herself, having wanted to do this to Diana for months and her goal finally being fulfilled.

"You have a beautiful laugh, you know." Leona said to her, her expression changing from smug to a kind smile, an affectionate glint in her eyes. It was moments like this that made Diana understand how much Leona did care for her, even if she didn't always have the time to show it how she liked. Once Diana had recovered her breath, she reached forward and took hold of the belt holding up Leona's pants and began to remove them.

"It's my turn to return the favour." She was eager to be able to give Leona what she had just given Diana. It had surprised her months ago to find out that Leona was also a virgin because of how confident she always was, but that was no longer the case, Diana knew now that most people were far too afraid to treat Leona as a person, far too reverent for the Sun and worshipping it to view Leona as anything other than a symbol. Diana could see past that as she didn't care for the sun or worshipping it and she figured Leona enjoyed that.

Once Leona's pants were removed, Diana flipped their positions, finding herself now on top of Leona. Diana swallowed hard as she ran her eyes over Leona's body, licking her lips as she thought about where she would start, pushing back any fears or worries she still had about this night. Leona dug her hand into Diana's hair, pulling her down to Leona's chest, forcefully telling her that she was taking far too long.

Diana obliged, taking one of Leona's breasts into her right hand and running her tongue along the nipple of the other. Diana chose to take her time, lingering around Leona's chest, wanting to make the most of Leona's visit when it could be months before they get this opportunity again. Leona decided she was taking too long again, bucking her hips up into Diana and trying to get Diana to move on from her chest.

The blonde took the hint and moved down between Leona's legs and began with using her fingers to rub circles around her clit, Leona arching her back slightly at Diana finally giving her what she wanted. She pressed the fingers of her free hand into Leona's entrance, using a technique that she had used on herself over the past several months whenever Leona had worked her up too much, a mixture of a thrusting and curling motion. It brought Leona up and over the edge quickly, leaving her breathless and sweaty, a sight that Diana enjoyed far more than she'd thought she would. Leona pulled her in before rolling them over, resting herself on top of Diana, her head on Diana's chest.

"That was nice." Leona murmured into Diana's chest, closing her eyes for a moment. After Diana said nothing in response she lifted her head up, looking Diana in the eyes. "You're not still worrying about dragging me down, are you?" Diana averted her eyes guiltily, of course she was still worried about that, she still couldn't believe that Leona wanted to spend time with her let alone do what they just did. "Is there anything I can do to get you to stop worrying about it?" Diana pursed her lips at that question.

"Probably not." She responded, Leona narrowed her eyes at her.

"If I wasn't sure about you, Diana, I wouldn't have let it come this far, so just relax." Leona said before pressing her lips to Diana's chest and curling back into her, her arms draped around Diana's body.

"Thanks." Diana murmured just loud enough for Leona to hear.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Diana sat quietly working away at her desk with her books when Leona unlocked the door and entered. Since the nights where Leona stayed over months ago, since Leona took Diana's virginity, she had given the Chosen a key to her room to come and go as she pleased instead of always meeting in hideaways. Leona stood behind the chair Diana was sitting on before slipping her arms around the blonde, looking over Diana's shoulder at what she was working on.

"Still researching other cultures and other religions, huh?" Leona asked her, Diana was trying to find judgement in the Chosen's tone but couldn't find any. Leona was the only one who respected her interest in things other than sun worship and the Solari culture, not immediately labelling her as a heretic for considering other things.

"Yeah, I found a whole bunch more books that caught my eye so I managed to sneak them out of the library this time so the Elders wouldn't know what I'm reading." Leona hummed disapprovingly at that, not liking the idea that Diana was going behind the backs of the Elders again but not enough to stop her either.

"Could you stop for just a minute? I have something I want to talk to you about." Diana closed her book and turned in her seat to face Leona, raising her brow at the Chosen as she waited for her to continue. "I want to be open about us."

"You want to tell people that you're seeing me?" Diana asked incredulously. Why on earth would Leona want to do something like that? She watched as Leona backed away from her a bit, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. It seemed like she was nervous but Diana couldn't tell for sure, she hadn't really seen Leona nervous before.

"We've been together for almost two years, I think we should take the risk. I'm sick of having to lie in order to find time to see you. Plus it would be nice to have Pantheon leave me alone." Diana laughed a little at that. Pantheon had been trying to get Leona to agree to go on dates with him for their entire relationship, and even before that, completely clueless to Leona actually seeing Diana in secret.

"You know what's going to happen if we tell people, they won't accept it. They wouldn't accept it if you were dating some other woman, they definitely won't accept it when they find out you're seeing me." Diana said, taking on a more serious demeanour. She knew that not being able to see Diana whenever she wanted to, having to lie in order to get time alone with her without the scrutiny of the Elders on her but it was far too risky to be honest, they could risk losing the small amounts of time they did have on the chance that they might be allowed to continue seeing each other.

"I know there's a chance it can go badly, but I would like to take the risk if you'll let me." Diana eyed her curiously, trying to find out why Leona would suddenly want to be out in the open, what had finally pushed her to want to take this risk.

"But why? We've been seeing each other in secret for almost two years, why do you want to be open now?" Diana asked her, trying her best to soften her tone. She watched Leona intently as the woman took a shaky breath in before speaking.

"Because I love you, Diana. I don't want to have to hide that any more, not from you or from anyone else." Diana stared at her for a moment as she processed the words that had just came out of Leona's mouth, the Chosen being so nervous when she asked to talk to her about something now made sense to her. "Do you feel the same way?" Leona asked her, the expression on Leona's face made Diana's heart melt, she was afraid of being rejected by Diana.

"Of course I love you, there's no way that I couldn't feel the same but I'm afraid of losing you because we rush into exposing ourselves. We could lose the small amounts of time we do get together by telling the Elders." Diana said, reaching out for Leona's hand to hold it reassuringly.

"They look the other way for some of the other couples here on Mt Targon, they might look the other way for us." Leona suggested hopefully, squeezing Diana's hand.

"You know it's different, Leona. You're the Chosen and I'm just… me." She said, knowing how much Leona hated it when she brought up the idea of dragging her down, of ruining her reputation with the trouble that follows her every move. Leona let out an exasperated sigh but said nothing to rebuff her claims, silently accepting that Diana was right at least for now, not willing to risk losing everything for the small potential of more time together.

"One day we'll be Elders, we could do something about it then." Diana raised her brow at this comment.

"You think they'd ever let me become an Elder? I don't think so." Diana laughed at the idea that any of the current Elders would ever recommend her to be one of them, to hold such an established position within the Solari temple and culture. "Maybe you can do something about it one day." She continued, smiling at Leona, hoping to encourage her.

"Maybe." Leona responded before reaching up and stroking Diana's cheek with her thumb.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Diana had been avoiding Leona for the last few weeks and the guilt of it all ate away at her. It wasn't that she didn't want to see her, she definitely did, but she had made a discovery that she knew she needed to keep secret from Leona at least until she knew more, had more evidence. She had made her way into the closed off parts of the library, the archives where only Elders and others given permission to enter such as Leona. Diana had been tempted at first to ask Leona to let her into them but she knew that Leona wouldn't do that, wouldn't want to help Diana get herself into further trouble and Diana didn't want to put Leona at risk as well.

She had managed to sneak into the archives when the woman left in charge of them was distracted, Diana had been watching her schedule for weeks and knew that she would regularly disappear for lunch. Diana slipped in and had managed to find something she knew the Elders were desperate to hide, having been hidden in a corner and locked away behind a wooden sliding door on the shelf. Diana managed to break into the lock, sliding the door back and grabbed as many of the books and scrolls hidden behind it as she could physically carry and hide on her way out of the temple.

Diana managed to get away with stealing the books and scrolls she had found, she hid herself away in her room even more than normal, taking any minute that she had available to herself to continue reading through the pages she had. She figured out quickly why the Elders had been desperate to keep these from view, locking them away in the archives and having someone guard the door, even if they had done it poorly. These books detailed the existence of another culture, one similar to the Solari except worshipping the moon over the sun. They detailed how both cultures had managed to co-exist on Mt Targon until the pages of the book ended before it could explain what happened to them, why they no longer existed. Diana jumped in her seat when she heard a knock at the door, she began trying to cover her work the books and her notes before answering the door. She peered out through a small crack between the door and the door frame, not wanting to open the door completely until she saw who was on the other side, it was Leona.

"Diana," Leona started with a concerned tone, "Will you let me in?" Diana ran her eyes up and down Leona for a moment before opening the door for Leona to be able to enter; she closed and locked the door as soon as the Chosen was inside. She watched Leona as she examined Diana's room, seeing that they were standing in the dark with the curtains drawn and her desk covered in papers, books and scrolls.

"You've been avoiding me." Leona stated, Diana could hear the hurt in her voice, she hadn't been as careful with the way she had been avoiding Leona as she had thought, of course she had figured it out.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to. It's nothing to do with you, or at least, not really." Diana tried to console Leona, not wanting the Chosen to think that she didn't want to be with her anymore.

"Then why are you doing it?" Diana pursed her lips at this, not wanting to get Leona involved in the things she had been doing.

"You have to promise not to get too mad if I'm going to tell you anything." Leona only raised her eyebrow at her, waiting for Diana to admit to what she had done. Diana walked over to her desk and began to uncover the books and scrolls she had found, her own notes that she had created. "I broke into the archives and I found these." Leona walked over to the desk and began searching through the papers, Diana watched her closely to see what kind of reaction she would have, would this be it? Would Leona finally have had enough of Diana and the things she continued to do over and over?

"Do you know how dangerous it is for you to have these?" Leona looked at her, Diana was surprised to see concern and worry instead of anger like she had been expecting. "I don't know if I can protect you if the Elders find out you have these, Diana, you have to return them." Leona reached out to her, caressing her face.

"You aren't furious that I've been researching this? Why aren't you angry with me?" Diana said, confused by the reaction Leona was having to this.

"I'm not angry, I know that you're not a sun-worshiper and I believe that the sun is okay with me being with you, I think that even if the Elders don't approve, my goddess does and that's enough for me." Leona said before pressing her lips to Diana's forehead, "But that doesn't mean that I can protect you when the Elders figure out these books are missing, they won't tolerate it after everything else that's happened with you." She said while pulling Diana into a tight embrace.

"I'm not done with them, I don't think I can return them just yet." Diana murmured into Leona's shoulder.

"I know you want to keep looking into them and if I was sure that I could prevent them from punishing you severely, I wouldn't make you return them, but please for me, take them back."

"I'll return them first thing tomorrow morning, the library is already closed." Diana conceded to Leona, at least for now, she wouldn't give up looking into this now that she knew the Solari's secrets, she had to know more, to know what caused the extinction of the Lunari.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Diana failed to keep her promise to Leona, once the next day came around she couldn't bring herself to return the books and scrolls as she had been asked to, she continued to read through them. She found herself looking at pages that detailed Lunari tradition and prayer, it was all similar to the traditions of the Solari but yet opposite, Diana couldn't put her finger on it.

Diana was able to keep up the act of hiding that she had these books and scrolls for a few more days until a routine check of the archives caught her out. When a group of Elders and a few guards appeared at her door, she wasn't surprised that they had immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was her that had taken the books. She had a long past of ignoring duties and prayer sessions, checking out books on other religions and cultures despite being warned that her fascination with things other than the Solari culture and faith was dangerous, Diana was the obvious culprit.

They banged on her door, demanding that she open it and face them before they opened it for her. She took the time to hide her notes, placing them in a crack in the wall behind her book case, she knew they would take the books and the scrolls but they didn't know she had made intense notes on what she had found and she planned to keep it that way. They could take away the books and they could punish her for her disobedience but they couldn't stop her from continuing her research, not until she found out what came next.

The guards forced the door open when Diana didn't open it for them; she was knocked ruthlessly to her knees before her arms were locked into some cuffs behind her back. Diana found herself wondering in this moment, not about what was to come next as she expected one of the most severe punishments they could deal out, but about what Leona's reaction would most likely be. She knew the Chosen would be hurt that she had lied to her, had failed to keep her promise but more than that she would be afraid of what would come next for Diana, what kind of punishment she would receive.

The guards forced Diana to walk through the main streets of Mt Targon, refusing to hide her arrest from the spotlight, refusing to hide their contempt for her and her lack of faith. She was brought to the Solari temple and into the council room of the Elders. They had gathered every single Elder this time, not just a select group that were familiar with Diana's misgivings in the past like normal, her eyes found Leona seated among them. She tried to prevent herself from staring at Leona, not wanting to give away her feelings but the brief glimpse she had gotten showed both disappointment and worry on the Chosen's face.

"Diana, you have once again disregarded the tradition and laws of the Solari. This time you stole artifacts that were placed in the archives to protect the Solari people. What do you have to say in defense of your actions?" Diana moved her eyes from the floor to acknowledge the Head Elder and what he had just said; she gnawed on her lower lip before speaking.

"I was curious. Nothing more, nothing less. I pose no risk to the Solari people, I was just curious." Diana said, not choosing to really defend herself as there was no defense, not in their eyes. She had been curious as to what other faiths existed, she had found information that had been hidden away and she couldn't resist looking into it more. Diana knew that after her punishment was dealt out she wouldn't be able to stop looking, even if Leona begged her, there was a reason that the Elders were furiously attempting to hide this information from the public and she needed to know what it was.

"You risked everything for pure curiosity? How could you expect us to believe that? How can we know that you aren't planning to leave the faith and harm the Solari people with your radical beliefs?" The Head Elder continued, she had never bothered to learn the man's name and she didn't care to learn now, he held up one of the books that had been confiscated from her room. It bore the symbol of the Lunari on the front of it, he had decided that Diana had converted, had left the Solari faith in order to harm them. He was assuming that Diana had belonged to their faith in the beginning.

"I don't care much for faith, I was simply curious and I will stick to that as my reason. Now, get on with my punishment." Diana said, she just wanted this to be over with, she let her eyes move to where Leona sat. The Chosen's brow was furrowed with worry though she did her best to cover up her emotions, not wanting the Elders to know her connection to Diana when it came to discussing her punishment.

"Remove her for now, hold her restrained outside until we come to a decision." He said and the guards pulled her from the centre of the room, dragging her through the doors and out of the council room, sitting her on a wooden seat outside, her wrists still bound in cuffs behind her back.

The Elders and Leona discussed her punishment for over an hour. Occasionally Diana could hear shouting back and forth, mostly from Leona, they were arguing over the severity of the punishment. She knew that Leona was arguing for a lighter punishment for Diana despite everyone knowing that Diana had done this, that she had indeed broken the law. Eventually the shouting ceased and she was brought back into the room, being forced to kneel in the centre of it, kneeling under the scrutiny of the Elders that sat around her.

"We have come to a decision on your punishment. Originally exile was considered but you're lucky that someone is on your side, Diana. Instead your punishment will be six months of daily enforced worship in the sun room, if you fail to appear daily for six months, you will be exiled from Mt Targon." Diana took a shaky breath in at the sound of that, she knew that if she failed to appear for her punishment, it would be likely that she would never see Leona again. She took a moment for a quick glance at Leona, she looked devastated by the outcome of this, she knew what kind of punishment enforced worship was like. It was likely that she wouldn't make it through the entire six months and would be exiled from Mt Targon, no one else had made it through their entire punishment before but it was the best Leona could get for her. Diana was grateful that the Chosen had tried, grateful that Leona loved her enough to put her own standing with the Elders at risk just to lighten her sentence. "Do you understand?" The man continued, wanting a verbal response from Diana before the session ended.

"I understand." Diana responded, her eyes now glued to the floor. The guards pulled her up from the floor and returned her to her room, only then did they remove the cuffs around her wrists, leaving her in the dark of her now ransacked bedroom.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Leona watched silently as they removed Diana from the council room, once she was gone she stood up from her seat, choosing to leave the room herself. She knew she had soured some of her relationships with the various Elders in the room by disagreeing with them, defending Diana and her actions. They viewed her as naïve for believing that Diana could be telling the truth, for believing that the woman was just curious about what she had found. What they had no clue over was that she knew Diana better than anyone else on Mt Targon, that she knew Diana had no intention to hurt anyone with her beliefs and lack of faith.

She made her way out of the main building of the temple, walking through the gardens out the front and heading for the front gate. She was going to try talk to Diana, to find out why she had decided to keep the books even though she knew what the answer would be. Diana had a love for learning new things, it was almost impossible to sate her curiosity and this time it had gotten the best of her. Leona was lost in her thoughts when she was stopped by Pantheon outside the front gates. She could tell by the way he was waiting for her that he knew what had happened, that he heard Leona had come to Diana's defense and risked her own standing with the Elders in the process. As much as Leona disliked Pantheon's advances, she knew he cared for her and was a close childhood friend; he was worried that she was getting herself involved in something she couldn't take back.

"Leona, I've heard what happened." He said, staring her down through his helmet, trying to get her to speak first but she didn't give in, "Why do you defend her? She challenges everything you stand for, everything that the Solari stand for." Leona looked away, pursing her lips, considering what her response should be. She knew she would have to be careful with her words in this moment.

"I don't believe we should exile people for being curious, what she did was wrong and she broke the law but I don't believe she did it with malicious intent. If I'm wrong, you can hold it against me later." Leona said, hoping that would be enough to stop Pantheon from questioning her connection to Diana. She walked past him and down the front steps, she needed to speak to Diana.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Diana slept poorly that night after her punishment was decided. Leona had managed to sneak into see her but the visit was brief, Diana couldn't cope with the disappointment that seemed to be radiating off of Leona. She was anxious about what would come next, she had heard stories about what enforced worship was like, she knew it was cruel and painful. She knew that not a single person put into enforced worship for more than a month had made it through the punishment without breaking down.

The guards came to her room early, just before sunrise, escorting her to the Solari temple though this time without cuffs and she was glad for that. The sun room was located at the end of the building, the two large wooden doors had large bolts and beams across it in order to keep it closed once someone was inside. The guards placed her inside the room and placed cuffs around her wrists, she was forced to sit cross legged on the floor and they locked her wrists onto a hook that was on the floor. She wasn't going to be able to move out of the sunlight. She looked up at the glass panes, they were angled in order to direct sunlight right onto the spot where Diana was sitting. For six months she would be sitting here from sunrise to sunset under the heat of the sun without water or food. Others have died during this punishment.

Diana could feel the room begin to warm up as the sun rose. By the time it was midday, Diana was feeling oppressed by the heat, the room was designed to take heat in and not let any of it out, she was drenched in her own sweat just after a few hours. It felt impossible to breathe at times, all she could do was sit where she was placed, her arms locked to the floor. She didn't know how anyone made it through a month of this, she wasn't sure she would be able to make it through six months. She wanted to try for Leona, to be able to stay on Mt Targon and continue to be with the woman she loved though she knew it was a slim chance that she would make it through the six months and come out alive and be the same person, to be the person had fallen in love with.

Diana only felt relief from the heat when the sun went down. The guards entered the room and unlocked her from her restraints and helped her to her feet. She was exhausted and needed assistance in order to return to her apartment on the other side of the town. Once she entered her room she found Leona waiting for her, clearly wanting to know how she had coped with her first day of punishment. Leona could see how exhausted and broken Diana felt after just one full day of enforced worship and Diana could see the fear Leona was feeling, fearing that Diana would be exiled from Mt Targon for good and they would never be able to see each other unless she were to leave herself.

Leona held Diana for a few hours, comforting the blonde as she slept, wanting to make sure that she could at least feel comfortable and loved for a few hours to try balance out the pain being dealt out by the Elders and the worship.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

Diana survived almost two months of her punishment by sleeping as soon as she was delivered home each night right until she was woken up the next day. Sometimes Leona would be there just to lie next to her and sometimes she wasn't, it depended on what she could get away with, eyes were on her now that she had openly defended Diana's actions and she needed to be careful as to not make the situation worse for herself and even worse for Diana.

Diana was trying her best to push through what she knew was an overly cruel punishment, it was archaic and she was surprised she even made it this far through it, she knew they had decided on this length of time because they didn't expect her to survive it so even if she wasn't exiled she would be out of the picture.

At first Diana did well to resist the call of her curiosity, to resist going back to the notes she had hidden behind her book case and looking further into this. She planned to go back to it as soon as she could but she wanted to be careful, not to risk what little standing she had left but she eventually gave in.

One night after her enforced worship, she managed to muster as much energy as she could to pull out the notes she had hidden, to look through them for one particular page that she wanted to investigate. It was a map she had drawn based off what she had found in the books, it was based off of descriptions of a Lunari temple on Mt Targon somewhere, she knew it would involve a climb to the higher parts of the mountain in order to find it. She gathered a few of her things into a bag and headed out of her room. She didn't know how she would find the energy to complete the ascent to where the temple was hidden away but she knew that she couldn't wait another four months in order to find out, not when she may not even live through those months.

It took multiple hours for her to climb the distance; she had to stop often to rest and to drink as much water as she could. Diana was relieved when she finally found two large stone doors that had been carved into, the symbols on the door matching those she had found in the books she had looked through. She pushed at one of the doors, trying to get it to open, it took her several attempts with her lowered strength to be able to force the door open. She grabbed a cloth from her bag and wrapped it around a piece of wood she found on the ground outside the temple, lighting the cloth on fire so she could see inside the temple.

The Lunari temple was far more modest than the Solari temple down the mountain, she couldn't see too much but what she was able to see showed her a different type of culture. One that seemed, to Diana, to focus more on genuine unity than tradition or agreed beliefs, it intrigued her more as she scanned through the artwork on the walls. She wondered how long it had been since the last Lunari existed.

Diana made her way through the inner parts of the temple, taking her time as she passed through the halls. She was amazed by how it was designed, it seemed far from a cave, it was an actual temple carved into the side of a mountain. She felt less exhausted as she got further in, gaining back some of her energy. She entered what seemed to be a main prayer hall of some kind, an alter at the front underneath a hole cut into the wall, letting moonlight through and into the hall.

Diana walked down through the centre of the hall, admiring the artwork and detail that went into what was on the floor around the alter. Diana stood over where the moonlight hit the ground before turning to face the opening in the wall, she felt a burning on her forehead, and the pain was enough to bring her to her knees with her head in her hands. Diana lost consciousness quickly after that.

When Diana woke, she found herself lying on the floor of the prayer hall, her eyes finding a blonde woman sitting on the alter causing her to jump in surprise. Diana stared at her, the woman seemed to glow and didn't look real to her. The woman smiled at her, finding amusement in Diana's staring, confusion and small degree of fear.

"Did I frighten you, Diana?" The woman asked her, Diana scrunched up her face at the idea of this woman knowing her name.

"No." Diana said, doing her best to seem like she meant it, "Who are you?"

"You have been chosen, Diana. You have been chosen by the moon in order to serve a greater purpose, you are the first human to have discovered this untouched temple in decades." Diana stared at this mystery woman as she talked, putting together mentally that this must be a projection of the moon, Leona had described something similar that had happened to hear when Diana asked her what it had been like to be chosen. "Do you know what happened to the Lunari?" Diana simply shook her head, "The Solari killed them all, a mass genocide. There are no longer any Lunari left to worship the moon and the Solari have done whatever necessary to make sure it stayed that way until now; you are the first of a new order, Diana. The moon will always be with you, will always guide you." The woman said, finishing with a gesture to a pile of armour and a weapon that Diana didn't recognize, it was a type of weapon she had never seen before, a crescent shaped blade.

The woman moved towards her, Diana sat patiently and watched her, saying nothing as the woman's finger traced the newly created brand on her forehead. Her fingers moved to Diana's temple, creating images in her mind of the Lunari whose lives were lost in the genocide, what they were like before it was all taken away. The woman was trying to answer all of Diana's unasked questions about the past, to reassure her that being the Chosen of the Moon and worshiping the moon would be different from the Solari and their culture.

"Be careful on your return, Diana. It's been multiple days since you entered this temple, they will be looking for you and if they discover your new destiny, your life will be at risk. Take care, Chosen." The woman said before seeming to fade into nothing. Diana sat in silence for a few moments before pushing herself up off the floor and changing herself into the armour that rested in a pile on the alter, it was far lighter than the armour the sun had given Leona, it was designed for her to be agile instead of favouring defense. She grabbed the hilt of the crescent shaped blade and headed out, attempting to heed the warning given to her to be careful upon returning to the Solari, knowing that she wouldn't receive such a light punishment from them once they discovered her new faith.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Diana took advantage of the dark of night in order to descend back down to the town. Under the moonlight she could see her own radiating much like Leona's did in the light of day. She felt far stronger and possessed more energy than she had ever done before though she was far from clued in on how to use it. Diana could see better in the dark than she could before, using this to her advantage as she snuck her way through the township and back to her apartment.

The door of her apartment had been kicked in, the entire place had been ransacked and Diana wasn't surprised by this. It had been multiple days since she disappeared, they would have been looking for her in order to continue her punishment and then when they couldn't locate her, they would have wanted to exile her from Mt Targon. Her bookcase had been knocked aside, the hole in the wall that held the remainder of her stored notes had been discovered and the notes taken. It didn't matter now; she knew what she needed to know.

Diana wondered what Leona was thinking about her disappearance. Was she worried? Was she disappointed? Diana figured she would find out soon enough. She had made the decision to call out the Elders for their hiding of the Solari's dark past, she needed to know when they would be gathered together. She left her apartment, the door still hanging off its hinges and found herself a lone guard on patrol. With her new found strength she brought the man to his knees and gripped him by his throat.

"When will the Elders and the Chosen be meeting next?" She demanded of him, she could see his eyes locked on the brand on her forehead as he tried to find his tongue.

"T-Tomorrow. T-They have a meeting to c-confirm your exile." Diana could feel the man tremble in her grasp. No one had been afraid of her before now; she found she liked this more than she would have thought. She examined his face as she considered what she did next, she couldn't let him leave as he would just warn them of her presence but she couldn't kill him either, it would defeat the purpose of interrupting the meeting tomorrow.

Diana settled for knocking the man unconscious and dragging him back to her apartment, she tied him up in what used to be her bathroom and figured that would be enough to keep the man away from warning anyone until it was too late. Diana wasn't particularly thrilled about the idea of confronting the Elders in the middle of the day, she wasn't well versed in how her new abilities worked, if they were anything like Leona's time of day can affect the strength of them though she could easily use them at night. She could be making a careless mistake, walking into this meeting during a time of day where Leona is at her strongest and while she knows nothing about her abilities or how they work but she was willing to take that risk. She wasn't going to this meeting looking for a fight, though she figured she would find one anyway, she wanted to bring out the truth the Elders had been hiding from everyone, including Leona.

She patiently waited for day break, watching from a rooftop in the distance for the Elders to make their way into the temple. Diana secretly wanted to be able to see Leona, waiting even longer just to see the woman again in her golden armour. Eventually her patience was rewarded by the sight of Leona making her way through the front gates, she watched for a moment before finally making her move and heading for a closed off former entrance to the temple. Most are unaware of this entrance's existence but Diana knew far more than most from her years of curious researching.

Diana found herself inside the temple though on the far side of where she really wanted to be, she was near the sun room where she had spent two months of her life being punished. She did her best to make her way through the temple without being discovered, knocking men unconscious whenever she had to. She found herself standing in front of the giant gold plated double doors of the council room, internally she felt herself sneer at the grandeur of this place even more than she would have before being Chosen.

Diana forced her way through the doors, gaining the attention of every Elder and Leona within a heartbeat. She found her way to the centre of the room, where she had been forced to kneel in handcuffs only two months ago. Diana was in a very different position now, she was the only one in the room armed, the only other who possessed magical abilities was Leona, she had the upperhand. She could feel the entire room's eyes locked on the brand on her forehead.

"What have you done?" The head Elder called out. He was asking her a question he already knew the answer to, he recognized the brand and knew what had happened during her disappearance.

"You already know the answer to that, I have been Chosen. Does anyone other than yourself know what really happened to the Lunari? How well have you kept that secret?" She asked him in return, knowing he wouldn't answer, that he couldn't answer. She continued. "The Solari ruthless murdered the Lunari, the Solari committed a genocide and eliminated another culture as it was different to yours. You choose to hide that fact as no one is around to remember what really happened, to criticize the actions committed by previous Elders and you continue to hide their secret." Diana's eyes scanned the room as some of the Elders spoke to one another, considering what Diana had said. Her eyes found Leona who was staring at her intensely, she couldn't read the emotion on the Chosen of the Sun's face. Everyone's attention was brought back to the head Elder as he stood up, his wooden seat making a loud scraping noise against the marble floor.

"You are a heretic." Diana took in a deep breath after hearing this, she expected that this would be how this goes but she had hoped for another outcome. "Chosen," He started again, turning to look at Leona who broke her stare to look back at him, "Since our guards are too useless to prevent her from coming this far, a woman with no combat training, you will have to execute her yourself."

Diana kept her eyes locked on Leona, hoping for the woman to get up and defend her, waiting for it. Her heart sank when Leona did nothing. This time the woman wasn't going to defend her, wasn't going to save her from the Elders, would she die by Leona's sword? Leona was hesitating, she wasn't standing to kill her or standing to save her, she was conflicted and Diana could see it.

Her stare was broken when two guards forced their way through the doors behind her, they hadn't stayed unconscious as she would have liked them to, she would have to work on that. She removed the crescent shaped blade from its holster on her back, she wasn't sure how to use her abilities but this would be test run if there ever was one.

Diana took advantage of Leona's hesitation, of the weakened guards and the defenseless Elders. She swung her blade, casting out moonlight and killing many of the Elders and the guards who were attempting to stop her. She wasn't going to let them execute her, she would kill them all before it got to that. The only one in that room that she didn't end up killing was Leona, she couldn't bring herself to do anything to her other than knock her unconscious to give herself time to escape.

Diana returned to her apartment before departing Mt Targon, choosing to leave a letter for Leona to find if she wished to look. Diana felt betrayed by Leona's hesitation to try defend her and she chose to ask Leona why in the letter as she wrote it. She told Leona where to find her if she would like to come talk to her, Diana hoped that without the Elders Leona would be reasonable and would understand her actions but she also feared that she wouldn't be able to forgive her for murder.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

A/N: From now on, anything writing in italics will be Leona and her POV and anything that's written as normal will be Diana, there's going to be more switching back and forth from now on so that's how I'll separate it. Thanks for reading!

 _Leona woke up in the infirmary alone. She was largely unharmed, only a few bruises and scratches. She couldn't remember much before falling unconscious, only the look on Diana's face when she realised that Leona wasn't going to step in to save her life. Leona figured that look would always be burned into her mind, she didn't think she would be able to forget how hurt Diana looked._

 _Leona laid in bed without saying anything for a while, she could probably call someone to let them know she was finally awake but she wanted some time to think, mostly about Diana. She had known that she was curious and had been dangerously flirting with the idea of other faiths for a long time, Leona looked the other way as it didn't bother her as much as it bothered others, she didn't mind others holding other beliefs when she was so confident in her own. Diana showing up with that brand on her forehead though, it shook Leona. It questioned the foundation her beliefs stood on. She knew her own goddess was real but to know there was another, that it had Chosen Diana like the Sun had Chosen her. She feared that the things Diana had said about the Solari were true; she knew deep down that they most likely were, Diana would never risk her life over something like that if she weren't certain about it being true._

 _Eventually a nurse entered and Leona pretended to have just woken up, the look the nurse gave her was one of pity, she figured that she was the only one who survived Diana's outburst and that's why she was looking at her like that though she wouldn't say it out loud, the nurse was waiting for someone else to break the bad news to her. The man who was the right hand to the Head Elder entered the room, having been informed that Leona was now awake and stood beside her bed, looking down on her._

" _They're all dead." He said, pausing for Leona to say something but she didn't, "What happened?" Leona looked up at him, making eye contact with him finally._

" _Diana has been Chosen by the Moon, the Elders ousted her as a heretic and she killed them." He eyed her with intense scrutiny as she spoke._

" _I see. Why did she leave you alive? Do you know?" Leona averted her eyes briefly before forcing herself to look back at him, not wanting to show weakness or guilt in front of who was most likely going to take his boss' place now that he's dead._

" _No clue." She lied, it wouldn't be smart to admit her relationship with Diana now, she might be the Chosen but she wasn't sure that that would stop the fear most of the Solari people were most likely feeling right now, they would probably end her life._

" _If anything comes to mind, let me know." He said, running his eyes over her one more time before turning on his heel and heading for the door. He would be hard to convince that she wasn't a traitor or a heretic herself since Diana left her alive, she would have to be careful._

 _The doctors decided to have her stay the night despite her feeling perfectly fine and barely being injured, they were taking extra steps to be careful partly because of who she was and partly because they had no idea what Diana could do, whether anything done to Leona would have some longer lasting effects than just bruising and some scars._

 _Leona had to keep herself from letting out an exasperated sigh when Pantheon made an appearance a few hours after the new Head Elder left, he would most likely have his own questions about what happened and she would have a far harder time convincing Pantheon that there was nothing between her and Diana, he knew her almost as well as Diana did and he had been suspicious of them in the past._

" _How'd she get away?" He started, his arms crossed over his chest. "How did she manage to get into the temple when everyone was on high alert, knock all the guards unconscious and then kill a room full of Elders under your watch? How did she kill all of them but you survived?" Leona stared at him for a moment before looking away._

" _I'm sure you've heard that she's been Chosen, she had no combat training before this but her abilities were enough for her to get in without being stopped or discovered. As for why she killed all the Elders and left me alive, I have no idea. Maybe she's just incompetent." She did her best to keep her voice even, her tone uninterested as she talked. The last thing she wanted to do was to give Pantheon more reason to question her than he already was._

" _I don't think you're telling me the truth. I think you know why you lived." Leona locked eyes with him over this comment, feeling anger building within her._

" _If you have something you want to accuse me of, do it." Her anger was showing in her tone, she figured her emotion was going to give her away but she couldn't resist._

" _I thought maybe you just weren't interested in me, that I could possible change your mind. I didn't think you were like that." Leona narrowed her eyes at him, not appreciating his tone or the implication that he was making. She wasn't ashamed of herself or her preferences but he clearly was._

" _Like what?" If he was going to be an asshole, she wanted him to be honest about it._

" _You know." He said, trying to avoid actually saying what he was implying, interesting how he was only okay with being bigoted while hiding behind implications._

" _No, I don't know. Would you have a problem with the idea of me being with Diana? Is that what you're saying, Pantheon?" She said his name in a tone filled with venom, daring the Rakkorian man to challenge her, to actually accuse her of what he was implying. She hadn't thought this would happen when she considered opening up about her relationship with Diana, she thought maybe Pantheon would be jealous but she hadn't thought he would be disgusted by it. He said nothing to answer his questions, whether it was because he was satisfied with her denial or because he had figured out that he was right, she didn't really care either way anymore. Pantheon picked up on her want for him to leave and left immediately. Leona knocked all of the items on the bedside table onto the floor in frustration. Goddamn it, Diana._


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Diana hid herself away in a cave in the forests that surrounded the beginning of Mt Targon, she was nursing some minor injuries and her exhaustion after having killed the Elders. She hadn't known what she was doing when she used her abilities for the first time, she wasn't surprised that she had injured herself or that she was exhausted, she most likely didn't even use it right. She was waiting, hoping, for Leona to make her way down to see her.

It had been almost a week since she fled Mt Targon, the only reason she was staying so close was she was hoping that Leona would find her letter and come to talk to her but she had heard nothing. Part of Diana hoped that Leona had just not found the letter though she knew really that that wasn't the truth, most likely she had found the letter and was refusing to see her or was planning to take the opportunity to kill her, she wasn't sure.

Diana had been trying to find some sort of way to communicate with the moon in order to get some guidance about how to use her abilities, what she was supposed to do next but she was moving blindly. Diana didn't have what Leona did, centuries of tradition in order to guide her on what she needed to, a known way to get in contact with her goddess and receive advice. The only things that would come close to helping her understand what she needed to do next were the books she had stolen from the archives. She would need to return and steal them for a second time.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 _Whenever Leona left her quarters in the temple grounds she could feel everyone's eyes on her. Half of them were staring because they felt pity for her for being the only survivor, the other half of them were staring because they had their suspicions. She knew by now rumours would be spreading of some kind of relationship between her and Diana though she didn't know whether they guessing correctly to the extent of it. There were other rumours about her being unable to protect the Elders, people claiming that she may not really be the Chosen, doubting her abilities when in reality, Leona had just been unarmed._

 _While Pantheon had dropped the subject of her and Diana, which she figured probably wasn't really the end of it, the new Head Elder certainly hadn't. He continued to pressure her with implications about her relationship, about her sexuality though Leona refused to give in. Many of the other new Elders were interpreting her frustration and her anger as a want to get revenge, believing that she was on board with finding and killing the woman. Even though Diana had murdered the entire council of Elders, Leona wasn't ready to draw her weapons with intent to kill her; she wouldn't do it unless she had to._

 _Her regular morning sun meditation sessions weren't getting her the answers she wanted, she was barely getting any answers at all as if her goddess was intentionally leaving her in the dark. She found her thoughts kept making their way to Diana and what she would do. The Elders were already pushing for a locate and kill mission where Leona would track her down and either kill her there in that moment or somehow transport her back to Mt Targon for a more official execution. She was doing her best to hide the fact that she didn't want that, that she didn't feel the same anger everyone else felt. Leona felt disappointed and worried mostly. She did let herself wonder if her love for Diana was blinding her but she pushed that aside, hoping that she was right about her._

" _Chosen!" One of the acolytes called from the door way, he was breathless as he stood there waiting for Leona to acknowledge him in some way, once they made eye contact he spoke again, "Diana has returned, she's made her way to the archives." Leona forced herself up from her seated position, grabbing her sword and shield from their mount on the wall._

 _While making her way to the archives from her quarters she found a trail of unconscious guards, were the abilities Diana had been given really that powerful? Leona thought back to one of the first times she had spent time with the woman, having knocked her onto her back in a sparring match in less than twenty seconds. She couldn't imagine that Diana being able to successfully take on so many of the armed guards._

 _She waved off the guards that were still conscious, sending the acolyte that had found her away, she wanted to speak to Diana alone. If anyone else were there they would scare Diana off, they would also get in the way of her having an honest conversation with the woman. She found Diana in the archives as the acolyte had said, she was in the middle of breaking back into the locked shelf that contained the books she had stolen months ago._

" _Diana." She said, the blonde stopped her movements for a moment, staring at the shelf in front of her. Leona sensed that Diana seemed to be afraid, possibly of what Leona was going to do now that they were alone. "I'm not going to kill you." Diana looked over her shoulder at her, their eyes meeting._

" _You didn't come to meet me like I asked." Diana said, there was a twinge of hurt in her voice, all Leona could do was give her a confused look. She had no clue what Diana was talking about. "Did you not get my letter?" She asked Leona._

" _No, I didn't. If you left it in your old apartment, I haven't been able to go anywhere without being watched, they suspect that I let you do what you did." Leona said, purposefully not naming the act, not wanting to call Diana a murderer._

" _I see." Diana said, she was still keeping herself distant from Leona._

" _Is it all true?" Leona asked her, referring to the things Diana had said in the council room before they decided they were going to execute her._

" _I wouldn't risk my life over a lie, Leona." That was what she had thought. "Will you let me take these or will I have to fight you for it?" Leona put away her sword, hoping to indicate to Diana that she wasn't a threat, she wasn't planning to kill her._

" _You can take them. I won't stop you." She said, Leona figured that Diana was still feeling betrayed since her reaction in the council room. She hadn't stood up for Diana like she should have, she felt guilty for it, she should have stopped it then even if it risked her own standing in the Solari. It would be something she would most likely always regret. The two of them left the archives in silence, Leona was trying to let Diana decide what she wanted next._

" _Will you come with me?" Diana was watching Leona's face closely, the blonde might be feeling betrayed but she was still willing to try to trust Leona, still loved her enough to ask her to leave Mt Targon with her. Leona was hesitant, it would be hard to leave both her faith and her family behind. "I can't stay here and the Solari no longer trust you, they judge you. You should come with me." Diana said to her, Leona was feeling inclined to say yes before they were interrupted._

 _Pantheon appeared behind Diana, spear in hand and lunging for Diana's neck. Diana dropped the books she was carrying and managed to dodge the attack she hadn't even seen coming before drawing her crescent shaped blade. Leona watched them fight for a few moments in stunned silence, while Diana's use of her abilities was clunky and needed refinement, she was able to dodge most of Pantheon's attacks and deal damage back. Pantheon finally managed to knock Diana's feet out from under her, seeing this motivated Leona out of her stunned silence, grabbing her shield and blocking the spear before it dealt a killing blow to Diana._

 _Diana took the few seconds Leona's interruption gave her to flee with the books and not look back, not waiting for Leona to explain that she hadn't known anything about Pantheon coming to kill her. She knew that Diana would doubt her even more, all it would seem like to her is that she lulled Diana into a false sense of security before having Pantheon do the dirty work even if Leona had stopped it at the last second._

" _I knew it." Pantheon said, pointing his spear directly at Leona. "You're in love with that bitch. Why else would you save her life after she murdered all of the Elders and almost killed you? Not only are you disgusting but you fall in love with a woman like that?"_

" _I don't believe it's any of your business." Leona narrowed her eyes at him._

" _Maybe it's not, but it's certainly something I need to bring to the Elder's attention." Pantheon gave her a shove before heading down the hall. Leona took in a deep breath trying to calm her anger._


End file.
